At a time when many veteran organizations are seeing an aging and declining membership, Trunfio, who became commander in August, is looking to rebrand.

“What we’ve been talking about for years is just talk,” Trunfio said. He added, “We’d like for the VFW to continue to become strong again and to be active and for people to (not think) we’re some old, dusty organization.”

Like other veterans organizations, Holliston’s Leonard D. Chesmore Post 8507 went through what Trunfio called “hard times,” and sold its building at 310 Woodland St. The sale allowed the post to move into the basement, which has since been massively renovated – including an updated kitchen, new walls, ceiling, and floor, and brand new bathroom.

“It was just a beat up old cellar,” he said. “There was nothing.”

Getting younger veterans means becoming more family-oriented, he said. The post’s newly renovated space doesn’t have a bar, and members can reserve and use the space for functions of their own, as long as they clean and lock up when they leave.

Trunfio also hopes to start heading out on field trips. He’s started collecting brochures on places like Battleship Cove in Fall River, and the hands-on tours of the USS Constitution in Boston.

"I think for a lot of younger veterans, the image that they have in their mind of the VFW is of older guys and an older generation," said David De Ganne, 50, an Afghanistan War veteran who joined the post within the past year. "I think their image is generally of older guys, and social functions that are very passe for them."

Now the post is using its 70th anniversary this year as an opportunity to hold more events, and get VFW signs and pieces of the post’s collection of war memorabilia in prominent places throughout town. At the library, World War I and World War II artifacts, including a few items belonging to Leonard D. Chesmore, the post’s namesake, are displayed in a glass case, alongside a collection of military books. Next month, a new set of memorabilia from the post’s extensive collection will be on exhibit at Fiske’s General Store, and sandwich boards downtown proclaim the anniversary.

Trunfio is also adding an entertainer to the post’s annual veterans dinner on Nov. 11, and a banquet at the Pinecrest Golf Club the day after, featuring “Singing Trooper” Sgt. Daniel Clark. He started a newsletter, asked the local cable station to broadcast previously recorded interviews with veterans, and handed out 650 American flags with the post’s name on them at Celebrate Holliston, the town’s annual fall fair.

“My job is to stimulate,” Trunfio said.

He points out all the charity work the post still does, from delivering hot dinners monthly to about 31 homebound residents, to high school scholarships, to sending care packages to troops overseas.

“We want the community to be aware that the VFW still exists,” Trunfio said, “and that the VFW is active, and it’s doing a lot of charity work.”

The approach, Trunfio said, might be working. The post brought in two new members at Celebrate Holliston, and they are younger, he said.

Alison Bosma can be reached at 508-626-3957 or abosma@wickedlocal.com. Find her on Twitter at @AlisonBosma.